March 12, 2006

Printable Quick Notes

Printable Selection Sunday Quotes

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team will face Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The game will be played Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla. Milwaukee (21-8) earned the 11th-seed in the Minneapolis Regional, while Oklahoma is the sixth-seed. The winner of this game will advance to a second round game Saturday vs. either Florida or South Alabama.

The Sooners (20-8) finished the season with wins in 11 of their final 15 games, though they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

The Panthers (21-8) will be making their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their third appearance in the last four years. Milwaukee earned the berth by winning the Horizon League Tournament, beating Butler, 87-71, in the title game Tuesday night. UWM also won the regular season crown for the third-straight season and has won at least 20 games four-straight years.

A tipoff time for the game will be set either later tonight or on Monday. The game will be televised by CBS and locally on WDJT-TV.

Fans interested in placing their name on a waiting list for tickets to UWM's first round game should call the UWM Ticket Office at 414-229-5886. Priority will be given to UWM season ticket holders and students, with any remaining available tickets then made available to the general public.

Milwaukee NCAA Tournament Pairings Quotes

Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter

On getting an 11 seed

"We are very excited about that - they deserve it. This group of guys has been very special. They have really accepted every challenge that has been thrown at them and they have had fun doing it. But now we are just looking to have some more fun representing the Horizon League and playing in the tournament."

On playing Oklahoma

"They are a good team from an outstanding conference ... very well-coached. They can beat you from the inside and from the outside. You know they are going to be excited. They are very fast and athletic and they have a post-presence with some big guys in the middle. It will be a tough match-up for us but we're just going to go down there and play the best game that we can play and have fun doing it. We know they are going to be a very well-prepared team."

On trying to approach this as just another game

"Well, we're competitors and it's another contest. They understand that there is work to be done, but at the same time we understand that it's exciting to still be playing at this point in the season. I don't think it's going to be a problem getting these guys working hard at practice or to get them to enjoy the moment. It's not every day that this happens - there are a lot of other teams who wish they could be in our shoes."

On the pressures of playing this time of year

"We understand it's `one-and-done' and the best way to keep playing is to do all of the little things: to be prepared, to take care of the basketball. We are going to get back to work and make sure all of those things happen."

On the preparations this week

"I am just going to keep it simple. I am going to make sure that my guys are prepared, that we know as much as possible about Oklahoma. I'm going to let all of the people around me do the sweating and the worrying to try and put things together. I know for a fact that I'll be on the plane and I'll make sure that I have 15 guys with me."

On sneaking up on people as the underdog

"I think people understand the run that this team had last year. I am sure that people have been watching a lot of games just like I have been. I don'tthink we are going to sneak up on anyone but neither is any other team. I mean, you have the best 65 teams at this point of the season ... there are no secrets."

Milwaukee senior Joah Tucker

On getting the 11 seed

"Getting an 11-seed shows we got a lot of respect from the committee. Now we have to get in there and earn the respect all over again."

On Oklahoma

"I know they are a pretty good team. What are they, 20-8? If they have the 6-seed that means a lot ... they are a very solid team."

On comparisons to last year

"Last year is last year. We have to go about our business and take each game one by one."

On going to the tournament as a senior

"It's March Madness, it's why you play college basketball. It's exactly why you play and we're excited to be doing it."

Milwaukee senior Adrian Tigert

On getting an 11 seed

"It shows some respect for us on what we did last year. It's nice to see, but it doesn't mean anything else than what a 12 or 13 or 10 would have. We can't put too much stock in any of the seedings - I think we proved that last year. We're excited and it's nice to see a little bit of respect, but it really doesn't ensure anything."

On if he saw what this program would become when he came in as a freshman five years ago

"That's tough to say ... I think what we've done has been pretty special and I don't know if anyone could have foreseen it, but I certainly knew when I was coming here and committing to Coach (Bo) Ryan that he was starting something special and he certainly did. And then Coach (Bruce) Pearl continued it and Coach (Rob) Jeter has done the same thing."

On playing well heading into the tournament

"You're only as good as your last game. And our last game was against Butler in the Horizon League Championship. I thought we played well, it was a very good team effort. So we're just going to build off that and not look back in the past, just look forward to the future."

On playing a major role in what the program has accomplished in the last few years

"When I look back on it, it will mean quite a bit, but right now we are just living in the here and now and we are excited about this upcoming weekend."

On Oklahoma

"I've had the chance to watch them on TV a few times. They are a great team ... a lot of big guys, lot of big bodies, a lot of great athletes."

Milwaukee senior Mark Pancratz

On Oklahoma

"We don't know much about Oklahoma right now ... they are obviously a good team that comes from a tough conference. We're just very excited right now."

On getting an 11 seed

"It makes us feel good about the program. We work hard and I am sure it has to do with what we did in the past. But we keep getting more respect for the Horizon League and hope to build on it. Hopefully we can get like the Missouri Valley Conference where they are getting 8's and 9's (seeds).

On playing the role of underdog

"We definitely will take it one game at a time and see what we can do. I think we have a little bit more of a name based on what we did last year. But it's just going to come down to who works harder and who puts the ball in the hole."

Milwaukee NCAA Tournament Quick Notes

• The Panthers earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Horizon League Tournament Championship. They did so on their homecourt of the U.S. Cellular Arena last Tuesday, downing Butler, 87-71.

• UWM will be making its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its third tourney appearance in the last four seasons. Last season, the Panthers advanced to the Sweet 16 by beating Alabama and Boston College before falling to Illinois. Milwaukee has been a 12-seed in each of its two previous tournament appearances.

• Milwaukee also won the Horizon League regular season title with a 12-4 record. It is the third-straight time the Panthers have won the outright title. The only other school in the country with a current streak of three-straight outright regular season league titles is Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference.

• Three players earned regular-season honors from the Horizon League. Joah Tucker was a First-Team All-League selection while Adrian Tigert and Boo Davis each earned Second-Team All-League honors. Tucker was also named a Mid-Major All-American by CollegeInsider.com.

• Adrian Tigert was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP and was joined by Joah Tucker and Boo Davis on the all-tournament team.

• Adrian Tigert missed two games and was severely limited in a third game late in the season with a back injury. Tigert took a hard fall in the Feb. 11 win against Cleveland State, then tried to play Feb. 15 against UIC but could go only 18 minutes and was ineffective. He then sat out games with Missouri State and Detroit before returning for the league tournament. UWM went 1-2 in the games in which Tigert was out or limited, losing to UIC and Missouri State before bouncing back to beat Detroit. In the last four games Tigert has been at full strength (two before the injury and two after), UWM has won by an average of 25 ppg.

• The Panthers led the Horizon League in scoring (74.2 ppg) and rebound margin (+6.6). Milwaukee was also second in steals, turnover margin and three-point field goal defense. The Panthers did have three players in the top 12 in the league in scoring, while Adrian Tigert also ranked fourth in rebounding and fourth in field goal percentage.

• Rob Jeter is in his first season as the head coach at Milwaukee. Jeter spent the past four seasons as the top assistant for Bo Ryan at Wisconsin and was at UWM with Ryan for the two years before that.

• Jeter's 21 wins in his first season are a school record and has him tied for second nationally among head coaches in their first year at their school. The 21 wins are more than any coach in his first year as a Division I head coach. Only five first-year head coaches led their teams to at least 20 wins and only four (Rob Jeter, Bruce Pearl, Jeff Bzdelik and Rob Spivery) led their teams to the NCAA Tournament.

• UWM and Oklahoma will be meeting for the first time. The Panthers have also never faced Florida and are 1-1 all-time against South Alabama. Milwaukee will also be playing in the state of Florida for the first time since 2000, when it played a tournament in Miami and a single game at Bethune-Cookman.

• The Panthers last faced a team from the Big 12 last season, when Milwaukee lost to Kansas, 73-62, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. UWM is 0-8 against current members of the Big 12, though the Panthers have only played three teams (Kansas, Colorado and Iowa State) from the league.

• UWM's women's basketball team has also earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament and will find out its matchup Monday. This is the first time both teams will be in the NCAA Tournament in the same season, and the first time in Horizon League history the same school has won both the men's and women's regular season and tournament titles in basketball.